Thursday, September 30, 2010

A bride-to-be recently emailed me to request a custom palladium and 14K rose gold wedding band. She had seen my 2 separate rings, and wanted the bands soldered together. Palladium melts at much higher temperature than rose gold. It was going to be a tricky business, but I finished it successfully! Here are some pictures.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

I'm in the middle of making a 14K white gold tube-set stacking ring with faceted gemstone and a sterling silver stacking ring with black onyx. Here's a picture of the rings in progress. You can see 2 3M radial bristle discs on mandrels. They're used for polishing. You also see large and small jeweler's files, a round-nose pliers, some scrap silver, and a 12mm black onyx cabochon.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

I'm trying enameling for the first time. No teachers. No guidance. I'm learning on my own. But, I did find a great article at ganoskin.com. Here's a picture of my first enameling attempt. (Well, it's not really my first, but it's my first successful one, LOL.)

This is a piece of copper sitting on a steel screen. The screen is set on a tripod. I applied the turquoise opaque enamel 4 times, fixing it with Pantene hairspray. I heated it each time with a propane torch from underneath. I got the really deep color by adding a 5th layer of translucent turquoise enamel.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

I would like to thank all of my clients who have written positive reviews on my etsy page. Thanks for being so supportive of me! I do read all of your reviews, and it makes me feel so happy to see that you like and enjoy my jewelry. One of the best parts about making custom jewelry is working with wonderful clients. Here's a small highlight of your wonderful reviews:

My new favorite seller! Not only was shipping and communication flawless but the ring itself is perfection. The fact that she hand makes her jewelry makes it even more special. It's so comfortable I'll wear it daily. Thank you Emily Wiser!!

We had a bit of drama with the USPS but Emily was just so patient and kind--really above and beyond what was expected. My ring just arrived and I'm enthralled, it's beautiful, and I can't wait to order more pretty things from you in the future!

WOW!!! THIS IS PERFECT I TELL U!! PERFECT...Do I sound excited? Everything about this ring and my earrings are wonderful..I love the stones, the band is so cute, the earring backings are wonderful..the packaging was great, and fast shipping. I felt like a princess and will be wearing my ring everyday!! Thanks so much..def. coming back for more of this wonderful artist pieces.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

After taking classes at Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco this summer, I've learned a bunch of ways to pickle jewelry. Pickling is simply cleaning jewelry with acid after you've soldered it. In the old, old days, silversmiths used hot white vinegar. Now, we often use sulphuric acid or Sparex. I used to use sulphuric acid. Then, one day, while I had my pickle pot open, and hot, steaming, sulphuric acid fumes were wafting out, a fly flew through this cloud and just dropped dead right out of the air! "Hmmm," I thought. "Maybe this isn't so good for me, either!"

I've been looking around for healthier and environmentally friendly pickle alternatives. So have my teachers and fellow students at school. Here's the alternatives:

1. Citric Acid. That's right--the kind that comes from citrus fruits. It's available in a powder form from Otto Frei.

2. Hot White Vinegar & Sea Salt. This is what I use. Keep it piping hot in a crockpot. It smells terrible, but works great! Just imagine salt and vinegar potato chips and you won't mind the smell at all.

3. Just Hot White Vinegar. This is what one of my teachers uses. She just adds some water to the crockpot when it gets low.

4. Lime Juice. One of the students I met at Revere uses this. She says hot lime juice works fine.

5. Kool-Aid. This is the best one, yet. I know that you can dye wool with Kool-Aid. It turns out you can pickle jewelry with it, too! It kind of makes me afraid to actually drink Kool-Aid. Just mix the Kool-Aid with water (don't add sugar). You'll have to refresh your pickle often. Thanks to Shirley at Etsy for this one.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Were you aware that the gold in jewelry is not pure gold? Pure gold is called 24 Karat (24K) gold. 24K gold is much too soft to make any durable jewelry! So, pure gold is alloyed (mixed) with other, stronger metals. So, if 24K gold is 100% gold, 14K is 50% gold, and 18K is 75% gold.

Gold is alloyed with copper and silver for strength. Rose gold is an alloy of gold and copper. White gold is an alloy of gold, silver, and palladium, nickel, zinc or other white metal. Green gold is an alloy of gold and silver.

Friday, September 10, 2010

I just got back from the San Mateo International Gem & Jewelry Show. It was really crazy. Not a lot of professional buyers there, not even in the wholesale section. In the wholesale section, there were a good number of women from bead shops buying briolettes and a lot of rather silly women holding the temporary strung beads up to their necks and saying, "Does this fit?" I must admit they were beautiful stones, and I was tempted to do so myself!

At this gem show, there were a lot of fakes mixed in with the real stuff, and a lot of bad stuff mixed in with the good stuff. How can you tell the real from the fake, and the good from the bad? (Subscribe to my newsletter to get more tips like this. My next issue will tell you how to buy pearls at a gem show!)

Emily's Tips For Buying Stones at a Gem Show1. Set your spending limit before you go! This is very important!

2. Bring your sales tax number or sales tax certificate with you. If you don't have a sales tax number, you can still buy in the retail section of the show.

3. Bring a 10x jeweler's loupe. This is absolutely necessary. Otherwise, you will not be able to tell real from fake gems. I brought 2 loupes: my 10x and my 20x. Look through your 10x first, and then if you see something interesting, you can use the 20x to see more detail.

4. Bring a piece of white paper to hold stones against. You can use your white business card. I simply used an envelope that held my sales tax certificate.

5. Shop at well-lit booths. Surprisingly, there were quite a few booths that were badly lit. It becomes very difficult to see the stones' colors and flaws clearly without good light.

6. It's better to buy fewer stones of a higher quality then more stones of a lesser quality. This is just my preference. I think it's best to be happy with your purchase.

7. Ask the salesperson a question to which you already know the answer. It helps to gauge whether s/he's truthful.

8. Bring a price guide with you. You can use your smart phone or just bring a wholesale catalog. It's difficult to keep the prices of all the different stones in your head.

9. If you see dyed or fake stones being sold at a booth, skip the whole booth. Don't shop there at all. You know you can't trust them.

10. Do not pull out the bead strands. You might have to buy it if you do.

11. Ask them if they will give you a discount. Often, the price marked on the strand is not the price they sell it at.

12. Look through your 10x jeweler's loupe for scratches at the facet joints of the stone. If there are scratches, chances are good it's glass.

Well, Etsy likes to send us tips on how to do business better. They emailed Etsy shop owners a link to this blog entry: The 4 P's. I was really inspired by the Philosophy section. It helped me articulate exactly what my business goal is: I want to make people happy by making great jewelry! People can wear my jewelry and take pleasure in it. They can give my jewelry to others and spread happiness. Well, anyways, that's my optimistic assessment of my philosophy. LOL